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TweetWhen MajorCrimesTV.net first spoke to Kearran Giovanni just before the second season of Major Crimes, she and her character Amy Sykes were both learning the ropes as they adjusted to being part of a new team. Now, with four seasons under her belt, and Sykes having a key role when Major Crimes returns next Monday with a special winter episode arc that explores one case over five episodes, it’s clear that Kearran and Sykes are both relishing and flourishing in the expanded roles they’ve taken on.

Throughout this season we’ve seen Amy Sykes take on a more active role in the Major Crimes team, and Giovanni notes that it’s the writers that have helped to craft what she sees as a very accurate portrayal of Sykes growth as an officer. “[The writers] always start the season with the big idea board where they slap ideas up for the year, and want to see what sticks and how we grow as characters and them having a plan for her. I think it’s been a great real-life progression for how she’s come into the squad, and the skills she has and the work she’s fallen into.”

In the final five episodes of the season, those new skills are put to the test when Sykes is given a tip that brings her face to face with a disgraced former officer, whose involvement in one of the LAPD’s most notorious cases seems to connect with a set of gruesome murders the team is investigating. This series of events sets in motion an internal conflict for Sykes on how she must proceed as the investigation progresses. Continue reading →

In a new interview with Smashing Interviews, Tony Denison discusses the success of Major Crimes, a few things we can expect in the upcoming winter episodes, and reveals that he’s sworn to secrecy on some plot points!

Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Very cool. What can we look forward to in the upcoming winter episodes?

Tony Denison: We’re on track to try to straighten out the situation with Phillip Stroh and protect Rusty. There’s a beginning of more conversations between Flynn and (Sharon) Raydor. But beyond that, I’m apparently sworn to secrecy. I’m not kidding. They sent me a release saying that there are certain things I couldn’t talk about in specificity (laughs).

Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): I totally believe you (laughs). Flynn made some subtle overtures to Sharon in earlier episodes, so it appeared that relationship might be explored in the future.

Tony Denison: What I understand is that more relationships between us all will be more of the focus on the show next year while we’re in the middle of solving crimes. Again, I don’t know what it means. I just know that’s the language G.W. was talking to me about. I know one year we had Lt. Tao’s family. Maybe we do an episode where we travel home with him again. Maybe Flynn’s kids will show up … his married daughter may show up or his ex-wife. I really don’t know, but I imagine that’s some of the stuff they’ll consider doing.

Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): How has Graham blended in with the rest of the cast?

Tony Denison: He’s just great. He fits right in. I think Graham is about 21, and it’s almost like how we treat the character. We all treat him like we’re his uncles and stuff like that. He’s a super good kid, and he’s super talented. When he’s in a scene, he smacks the ball out of the park.

Graham brings as much as he can bring to whatever scene he’s in, and it’s good because he’s interwoven in and out of the story. When the plot sort of turns the attention to him, he’s ready to bang at it real hard.

As a new cast member in season two of Major Crimes, Nadine Velazquez says she was nervous about stepping into the role of Emma Rios. “I was surprised at the reaction,” Velazquez told MajorCrimesTV.net, of the initial backlash to the no-nonsense deputy district attorney. Now as the show approaches its summer finale, Velazquez says she is feeling a change in the character herself, and in the reaction from fans, but cautions, “I don’t want to soften Emma too much.”

Following the evolution of a character from outsider to beloved core member of the ensemble cast is a journey that viewers of Major Crimes are already familiar with, having observed Sharon Raydor, and to a lesser extent, Rusty Beck, already complete the transition. Though much of the initial reaction to Rios (and Sharon before her) had to do with issues of gender and perceived antagonism towards the lead characters, Velazquez is eager to explore Emma’s hidden vulnerabilities, and how those traits may help the character learn to better interact with the rest of the squad. Continue reading →

TweetIn a new interview with the New York Post, Graham Patrick Martin talks about his early career, and the challenges and concerns he faced taking on the role of Rusty on Major Crimes.

“When actor Graham Patrick Martin joined the cast of the TNT drama “Major Crimes” last year, he felt major pressure to succeed on the spinoff of “The Closer.”

“I was kind of nervous just because my character was going to be a pivot point between the shows,” he says about portraying Rusty Beck, a homeless hustler and witness in a homicide case who was first introduced in last summer’s series finale of “The Closer,” which starred Kyra Sedgwick.

“I was afraid if my character didn’t work and people didn’t buy into it, then the whole show would tank — and it would be my fault,” he says. “It was very terrifying, but kind of the reality of the situation.”